To give you a little history on the relationship, in 1949 Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek withdrew to Taiwan, with two million refugees, vowing the reclaim of the mainland from Communist Party leader Mao Zedong.
Then during the Korean War in 1950 U.S. President Harry S. Truman ordered the 7th Fleet into the Taiwan Strait to prevent possible Chinese attack on the island. The U.S. perceived Taiwan as an ally against Communism. The U.S. sent Taiwan troops, weapons and supplies.
During the 1960s, with the tragic results from Mao Zedong's domestic policies of the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution, Taiwan sought their independence. But it was also during this period that the U.S. and other countries began improving relations with China due to the USSR and its communist expansion.
In 1971, the United Nations expelled Taipei's Nationalist government and recognized China's Beijing government. In 1979, the Carter administration formally recognized the People's Republic of China, severing official diplomatic relations with Taiwan, now under the rule of Chiang's son, Chiang Ching-kuo. With this move, the U.S. demonstrated that America accepted Beijing's "one China" mandate and abandoned its defense pact with the island. Within months, though, the U.S. Congress reinstated unofficial economic ties with Taiwan, including the sale of arms.
Since this time, Taiwan has been having democratic elections. There have been times when China would fire missiles as a show of strength toward the island, but the U.S. would intervene with aircraft carriers and its own military strength.
The Chinese government considered Taiwan as part of China; but Taiwan sees itself as an independent nation. Many mainland Chinese have relatives in Taiwan; and there is frequent travel and communications made to and from the countries. However, no matter what the political situation is, familial and friendship ties are still very strong among the two. Most Chinese want the two to reconcile, but they would like to see greater development in the economic and political front on the mainland first.
